Pep Guardiola has provided an update on Erling Haaland and Phil Foden’s fitness ahead of Manchester City’s crunch clash with Liverpool.
Man City host Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday lunchtime, with the champions in need of a result to close the eight-point gap to leaders Arsenal.
Guardiola’s side face fitness issues ahead of the clash, with Phil Foden having withdrawn from the England squad last week to undergo surgery for acute appendicitis.
Erling Haaland is also a major doubt after missing March’s internationals with a groin issue and Guardiola confirmed the 42-goal leading scorer would be assessed on Friday.
“Phil [Foden] had surgery and Erling [Haaland] is in recovery, we will see how he feels after the training session,” Guardiola told his pre-match press conference.
“We still today and at the end the doctor and especially the player will decide. We will see, we will see what happens.
“Phil Foden is about two weeks away, so we’ll see how he develops after his appendix surgery.”
The BBC are reporting that Haaland will face a fitness test at 4pm on Friday, as he looks to prove his fitness to face Liverpool.
Guardiola was asked on how Haaland’s absence would impact his plans, with Julian Alvarez expected to deputise if the Norwegian is ruled out.
“The football is the quality of the players… Haaland has his skills, Julian [Alvarez] has his own skills. It depends, most of the players came back yesterday, we could not do much, today a little bit. Today is the last assessment.”
